AUTHOR=Barham Michael P. , Lum Jarrad A. G. , Conduit Russell , Fernadez Lara , Enticott Peter G. , Clark Gillian M. TITLE=A Daytime Nap Does Not Enhance the Retention of a First-Order or Second-Order Motor Sequence JOURNAL=Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience VOLUME=15 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/behavioral-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2021.659281 DOI=10.3389/fnbeh.2021.659281 ISSN=1662-5153 ABSTRACT=
This study examined the effects of a daytime nap on the retention of implicitly learnt “first-order conditional” (FOC) and “second-order conditional” (SOC) motor sequences. The implicit learning and retention of a motor sequence has been linked to the neural processes undertaken by the basal ganglia and primary motor cortex (i.e., procedural memory system). There is evidence, however, suggesting that SOC learning may further rely on the hippocampus-supported declarative memory system. Sleep appears to benefit the retention of information processed by the declarative memory system, but not the procedural memory system. Thus, it was hypothesized that sleep would benefit the retention of a SOC motor sequence but not a FOC sequence. The implicit learning and retention of these sequences was examined using the Serial Reaction Time Task. In this study, healthy adults implicitly learnt either a FOC (